The present invention relates to a technology for achieve remote control on an on-vehicle apparatus or equipment, such as a navigation apparatus, etc., for example, and in particular relates to a technology for allowing or causing the on-vehicle equipment to execute control content which is received from a communication terminal other than such the on-vehicle equipment.
Accompanying with wide spreading of use of a navigation apparatus, achieving a communication function with using a portable telephone apparatus, etc., for example, a service system is proposed, for providing various services therewith, through the remote control of such the navigation apparatus, by means of a remote control apparatus. Such the service system of this kind as was mentioned above is already known, such as a service system of the compass rink Co., (Compass Rink), for example.
With such the system as was mentioned above, a user connects a portable telephone apparatus to the navigation apparatus with using an adaptor for exclusive use thereof, and she/he also makes a telephone call to an information center by using this portable telephone apparatus, thereby informing the content(s) of the service she/he wishes to an operator responding thereto.
At the information center, the telephone apparatus and the computers are integrated or unified by means of a technology of CTI (Computer Telephony Integration). The operator responding to the telephone call from the user with using the telephone apparatus determines the control content(s) to be executed by the navigation apparatus, for the purpose of providing the service content(s) required from the user. And, with using the computer, the control information is sent to the navigation apparatus, thereby causing or bringing the navigation apparatus to execute the control content(s) determined.
Such the control information is transmitted to the portable telephone apparatus of the user through CTI server, and is further transmitted from there to the navigation apparatus. The navigation apparatus executes processing in accordance with the control information received. Thus, the navigation apparatus is remotely controlled by the information center.
With such the service system, the user can be free from troublesome operations of using an operation panel of the navigation apparatus, such as a point display, POI (Point Of Interest: information about facilities or the like of genres of interest) information display, as well as, setting of a goal or destination thereof, etc.
In such the conventional service system as was mentioned above, the information center side transmits the control information for use of remote control of the navigation apparatus at the user's end, with using the telephone line that is established by the user side for transmitting the requested service content(s) to the information center. Namely, noticing of the requested content(s) of service from the user side to the information center side, as well as, transmission of the control information from the information center side to the user side, are conducted by using the same telephone line.
For this reason, with such the conventional service system as was mentioned above, it is impossible to receive the service contents requested from a communication terminal other than the navigation apparatus (i.e., the portable telephone apparatus dismounted from the navigation apparatus, a stationary telephone apparatus at home, or a network terminal connected to the information center through the network, such as the Internet, etc., for example), thereby to control the navigation apparatus remotely. For example, though informing the service content(s) which she/he requires from her/his home to the information center in advance, however the user cannot make the remote control on the navigation apparatus in accordance with the service content(s) which was/were received in advance, if thereafter she/he tries to operate or use the navigation apparatus. Thus, it is inferior in usability thereof.